


Conversations and Confessions

by ArdentSingleton



Series: Taishiro [3]
Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Adventure tri.
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-05-14 23:22:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 4,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5762923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArdentSingleton/pseuds/ArdentSingleton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Series of short Taishiro excerpts, detailing the moment at which each Chosen Child discovers that Taichi and Koushiro are romantically involved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Morning

Hikari had never minded mornings. The sun peeking through the window as she scooped rice out of the rice cooker and the sound of birds chirping at the park nearby, plus the inevitable sound of traffic; it was quite relaxing really, to be sat amongst it all and just let it go by. Her brother had never really agreed with her on that, he tended to see the morning as a necessary evil that interrupted a perfect world of sleep. She laughed to herself as she considered their differing viewpoints and it came as no surprise when halfway through her meal, said brother arrived looking even more of a mess than usual.

"Oh, uh, Hikari, hey, I thought you'd be out by now" he said, with a feigned air of calm that tried to be "whatever" but made it clear something was wrong. It didn't fool her, she knew her brother better than that. A door quietly clicked in the background, though Taichi seemed not to notice.

"I was just about to leave, Tai. I'm not meeting Miyako for another few hours, but I thought maybe I'd do a little shopping fi..." her sentence trailed off as a short redhead entered the room, hair a mess and wearing what could only be assumed was one of Taichi's old t-shirts. He hesitated a moment, taking a step back.

"Good morning Koushiro" she said.

Taichi turned to look towards the door, as Koushiro entered the room quietly. Hikari smiled; she had always liked Koushiro, ever since he'd joined Taichi's soccer club. He was the type of person who understood the pleasures of a morning, and his unwavering calm had repeatedly balanced out her brother's headstrong nature when they'd most needed it. She glanced between them as they stared nervously at each other.

Koushiro took a seat at the table. Taichi sighed. He filled two bowls with rice and sat down opposite Hikari.

"So, are you..." Hikari started.

"Shut up, Hikari," Taichi muttered quietly.

Hikari looked a little hurt by the comment. Koushiro looked surprised too. 

"Koushiro, I..." she tried again, before being interrupted.

" _Stop_ , Hikari," Taichi growled.

Hikari sighed. "...I'm just glad, is all," she whispered as she poured tea for the two boys.

There was a pause. Taichi smiled at his bowl of rice.

"Me too," came his whispered response.

That, with an accompanying blush from the redhead, was all she needed to hear.


	2. Video Games

"Anyway, yeah, so we're dating now," Taichi grinned, staring at the television, controller in hand.

Yamato laughed loudly from the couch beside his friend, "Yeah? Don't you think Sora might get jealous, Tai?"

"What?"

"If we're dating now, Sora's gonna get pissed. She thinks you take up enough of my time already," he grinned and looked at his friend, pausing the game they were playing. But Taichi just looked confused.

Had he missed something?

"Oh, right," Taichi said, after a moment, "but I think Kou would feel hurt too if that happened. Because, y'know, we only just got together and..."

Wait. Back up.

"Koushiro? You're telling me  _Koushiro_  asked you out?"

"Yeah, a couple weeks back. More like I asked him really but same difference I guess."

"You asked him out? Really?"

"Well, y'know Kou, it's not like he'd ever really have the courage to do something like that..."

Yamato paused. It wasn't exactly a surprise, the two had always been close in a different way from his own relationship with Taichi. Plus he knew Taichi had considered it. He just never quite expected it to happen - Koushiro was so _asexual_.

He placed his hand on his best friend's knee and grinned.

"If you break him, Tai, I'm not going to get you a new one."

"I hate you Yama."

"You too, bro."


	3. Group Date

Sora stood outside the door to her boyfriend's apartment. She gave herself a quick once over before buzzing; she always did, but this time they were specifically going out for a meal (with others, no less) and she wanted to look her best. Yamato had certainly been acting like it was a big deal.

Satisfied with her appearance, she pressed the button and the door immediately opened. It was like Yamato had been waiting, which was unlikely if only because he always took longer to get ready than she did. Always. And yet here he was, dressed smartly with his coat on, ready to leave. They kissed briefly as he joined her outside, pulling his phone from his pocket and sending a quick message.

"You okay, Yama?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Are you?"

"Yeah it's just you're acting..."

Yamato's phone buzzed and he glanced at it, cursing under his breath.

"Yama?"

"Yeah? Sorry, they're gonna be delayed a bit, he's asking us to hold the table for them. Typical Tai."

"Tai's coming?"

"Yeah... Him and Koushiro. Tai organised it, said he wanted to do something "coupley". It's no big deal," he explained, quickly.

"Of course it is," she grinned, "I didn't even know either of them were..."

"I only found out a couple of weeks ago myself, Tai just sidelined me with it when we were gaming. Tried to use it as a way to beat me, the big asshole that he is."

"Yeah, that sounds like Tai," she laughed. It definitely was the sort of thing Tai would do, "But you never told me."

Yamato stopped and scratched his head.

"I honestly thought he'd tell people himself. But I don't think anyone else even knows yet. I mean, no one has even mentioned it and they've been together a month. I dunno what's taking him so long."

Sora made a sound of considered agreement as they entered the restaurant. A waiter led them to their table. 

"So what about Koushiro then? I can't honestly say I saw him dating anytime soon... He never even seemed that _interested_ to be honest... How did you even find out he was..."

Sitting down, she glanced round the table. Four seats. She quickly counted again. Definitely four. Which could only mean...

"Oh my god. _Tai and Koushiro._ "

"I already said that."

"I know, but I didn't realise you meant _Tai and Koushiro_..."

"Stop saying it like that. Surprised it didn't happen sooner really," he laughed.

"They are sort of perfect for each other..." she agreed.

Moments later, the boys arrived, taking their seats opposite the more established couple. To any casual observer they looked just the same as they always had: the closest of friends, laughing and joking. But now that she really looked, she could see that it was different. They sat a little closer, their eyes lingered a little longer, they found reasons to come in contact with each other a little more often... Nothing major, just a subtle shift that was undeniable once seen. 

And if anyone knew it, Sora knew it.

It was love.


	4. Gossip

Hearing that people were talking, Takeru closed the door quietly behind himself so as not to disturb the conversation. He moved closer to the sound, slipping off his shoes and hanging up his coat. He paid just enough attention to the argument going on to try and figure out what he was about to walk into. Sora was upset with his brother again, that much was clear.

“I know I’m supposed to tell you everything but he asked me not to, okay?"

“You don’t think I can keep a secret, Yama?"

“It’s not about that, Sora, and you know it. I promised Tai I would let him be the one to tell everyone and I’m not gonna take that moment away from him."

“I know, it’s a big deal and it’s his news to tell but you could’ve at least given me some warning. You basically sent me in there and blindsided me with… oh, welcome home Takeru."

Takeru smiled and nodded politely at the greeting.

“…so what’s Tai done this time?” he laughed, trying to add some levity to the situation. He hoped, as was his wont, that this would help move the argument towards a resolution. Unfortunately for the child of hope, it wasn’t to be.

“You didn’t even tell your own brother?” she said, pointing at Takeru frustratedly.

“He didn’t tell me wha…"

“It’s - not - my - news - to - tell.” Yamato said through gritted teeth.

Sora just sighed and stared out the window. Takeru couldn’t quite make out her expression from the half-reflection in the glass, but he could see it clearly enough to know she wasn’t going to let this go. He suddenly realised something.

“Wait… Tai… Hikari was being weird about him earlier too. She said she’d caught her brother in the middle of a date but then acted like she hadn’t said it at all - she kept laughing at me and telling me I was being ridiculous when I brought it up. Is that it? Is that what this is about?"

Yamato nodded quietly in response, but didn’t take his eyes off Sora, whose only response was to sigh again. There was an extended pause in the conversation before she finally spoke up again.

“I realise it’s stupid, Yamato, you know as well as I do that I don’t have a problem with him being gay or anything, I just…"

“TAI IS GAY?” Takeru gasped unable to hold himself back.

“…just… I… wait…” Sora turned to look at Takeru’s stunned face, “you just said Hikari had already told you about Tai and Koushiro,"

“AND KOUSHIRO?!” he said, as he burst into laughter, “You mean they’re together, right? As a couple? No wonder she kept laughing at me. What took them so long? How long have they been hiding this from us?"

“I… you just said…"

“Sora,” Yamato said, speaking up, “I believe Takeru said that Hikari said she’d walked in on Tai, and not whom - or even which sex, for that matter - she’d walked in on him with. Which you just did."

“I… crap. I’ll phone Tai and apologise…"

Yamato smirked and handed her the phone.


	5. Skype

Whenever Mimi rang, Koushiro always answered. His Skype icon would show for mere moments before the screen would fill with a live video feed of her favourite computer genius, even from halfway around the world.

But this time, the ringing continued.

It wasn't in Koushiro's nature to leave people waiting. Even if it caused great disruption to his schedule, if it made him late or changed his plans entirely, he couldn't leave the door unanswered, the email unreplied, or the phone ringing. It would be rude, and Koushiro was not rude. Ever. He’d even insisted on maintaining the “san" honorific at the end of Taichi's name, long after they had become close friends and Taichi had requested it’s removal.

And yet, here she was, still waiting for him to answer the call.

As the call rang out and automatically canceled itself, she couldn't help but worry what had happened to the redhead. It was even he who had suggested they talk, so it couldn't be that he was ignoring her. Could it?

She tried again. And again it kept ringing. But this time, just as she was about to give up, the ringing stopped and he finally appeared, same as ever. Unlike normal, however, there was a mass of snoring brown hair blocking half of the picture. It looked suspiciously like Taichi.

"I'm very sorry I missed your call, I'm afraid it was somewhat difficult to reach the laptop..." he blushed, smiling awkwardly.

“You could’ve just pushed the snoring oaf off of you, Koushiro. You’re his friend, not his pillow."

“Oh it’s no trouble… Tai’s been so busy lately… I’m merely happy that he…"

“Tai?” Mimi interrupted, quickly

“Yes, of course, Tai, who else would I be referring to?"

“Not Taichi-san?"

Koushiro opened his mouth, but no words came out. Instead, he closed it again and stared at the mass of hair in his lap.

“OH MY GOD KOUSHIRO"

Koushiro considered what would be considered a valid response to the implied recognition of his new romantic status, but before he got the chance to come to a conclusion, his thought were drowned out by his friend’s loud squealing from the other end of the call.

“…and now I have two GBFFs to take shopping and go through all the fashion magazines with and ohmigod we can do manipedis and slumber parties and bitch about all the celebrities andhaveyouseenthishotguyontumblrwaitillsendyoualinkyouhavetoseethisguy…"

As Mimi’s increasingly breathless and high pitched references to American teen movies got more and more extensive, Koushiro mulled over just how rude it would actually be to hang up the call. He might just’ve done it too, had Taichi’s massive hair not still been blocking the way.


	6. Emergency

3:30am. That’s what the clock on his phone said. Jyou sighed to himself as he closed his textbooks - night after night, the same routine. And it seemed as if it weren't making the slightest difference; his grades still lagged behind where he wanted them. He was running out of time to correct his path, he knew it. And he was just about to chastise himself for not working hard enough, same as he did every night before bed, when the phone rang in his hand.

“Tai?” he said, preparing to launch into a tirade about calling at unsociable hours, when he noticed the other boy was breathing unusually heavily.

“Jyou! Thank god I got through to you! Kou’s hit his head and I needed to ask you how to check he’s not concussed or whate…"

“Where are you?"

“…my place…"

“I’ll be ten minutes max. Don’t move him. Keep him awake."

Jyou didn’t hang up the phone, but quickly rushed out of the house, throwing on his jacket and shoes as he went.

He arrived at Taichi’s to find said boy in a pair of boxers and a t-shirt and Koushiro kneeling on the floor, vaguely hidden by a blanket. He barely had time to consider the scenario before Taichi was rushing him over to look at his injured partner.

“He fell off the bed, hit his head, there’s a lump there, see, is that bad?” Taichi poked the lump on the younger boy's crown, rushing through the details. Jyou ignored him, and knelt in front of the half-naked and tired-looking redhead.

“Koushiro, can you tell me where we are right now?"

Koushiro nodded. “We are in Taichi’s room, or more generally in the residential part of Odaiba, Tokyo."

“And can you tell me what you were doing before you fell?"

Koushiro’s face reddened, “I… I…"

“I don’t think that’s… that doesn’t matter, does it?” Taichi interrupted. Jyou stared at the boy, who was watching from his perch on the edge of the bed at this point.

“It’s a perfectly standard question, I need to check that his short-term memory is functioning as normal. Koushiro, can you tell me the events leading up to your fall?"

Koushiro sighed and muttered something quietly before turning a darker shade of red, “We were lying in bed… kissing... and he was just about to…” he glanced up at Taichi and his sentence trailed off.

Jyou’s eyes widened, as he suddenly realised why there was a blanket draped around Koushiro’s lower half. Taichi must’ve wrapped it round him when he’d realised Jyou was on his way over. The pair had been naked when Koushiro fell. They had been _intimate_.

“...I see. I’m going to shine a light in your eyes, if you would please just follow the light without moving your head."

Jyou continued checking Koushiro’s vitals, before giving him the all clear. It was, it seemed, just a bump. No real damage done, other than a bit of a sore head.

“In future, I suggest not trying to engage in sex on the top of a twin-sized bunk bed. That should be obvious, really, there is neither the space vertically nor horizontally to make it practical or comfortable. Also, if you are going to be intimate with each other in that way, it is my duty as a doctor to highly recommend wearing condoms at all times. There are also a wide array of other items you can use depending on the specific acts you choose to engage in, which will help keep you both clean and healthy in what can be considered a high risk lifestyle. I’ll send some details across tomorrow. And … dropping formality for a moment… maybe give your friends a heads up before they walk in on a situation like this? I don’t know about you but personally I think it’s only polite to give some warning…"

Taichi just sat there, looking sheepish and mumbling an apology. Koushiro was merely staring at the chestnut-haired idiot, and Jyou had a sneaking suspicion they weren’t finished for the night. He took it as a cue to leave.

“I’ll leave you two to it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you wish to read these stories in chronological order, the fic "Tai's Dying Day" happens between this chapter and the next.


	7. Gift

“I just need your help, okay?"

The other end of the line went silent. Tai knew that asking Miyako for help was a bad idea, as if Koushiro’s friend really needed another reason to feel smarter than him. He would never have admitted his struggle to her if she were anything other than the last remaining option. And yet here he was.

“You want my help?” she sounded surprised. She couldn’t be more surprised than he was. “Can’t you just ask Koushiro?"

Tai was ready to smack his head off the wall.

“It’s about Koushiro, Miyako. I need you to help me figure out what he wants."

A pause. “…oh...”

Tai sighed.

“I don’t know much about all that computer stuff, I don’t understand half of the shows he watches, I don’t… I just don’t, okay? I could go out and get him something myself but it’d probably be something he already has or can’t use. Will you just help me?"

“What did you do this time, Tai?"

“What?"

“It’s not his birthday and it’s way too early for Christmas or new year, which means this has to be an apology present. What did you do that requires such perfection? Koushiro will forgive you, you know that. He always does."

This time, it was Tai that was caught off guard. She didn’t know? How could Miyako, the only person in maybe the whole world who knew Koushiro as well as he did, still not know?

“Tai?"

“He didn’t tell you?”

“He doesn’t say much at all about you these days… have you fallen out?"

“We’ve been dating almost a year, Miyako. It’s our anniversary. Next week. He really didn’t tell you?"

Silence.

“Miyako…"

“I’ll be right there. Don’t move."

Tai couldn’t help but laugh as the phone cut off. He could practically hear her freaking out already.


	8. Chess

“Taichi and Koushiro are dating,” Miyako said calmly, as the blue-haired boy opposite her took her bishop. He didn’t show any sign of acknowledgement.

“Check,” was his only response.

“Did you hear me, Ken? They’re actually dating. I didn’t think either of them had it in them,” she said, her inflection making her satisfaction at this knowledge clear to the boy despite his concentration on the game. After a pause, he looked up at her.

“Yes, I’ve suspected that for quite some time,” he said with a shrug, toying with her lost chess piece, “your turn."

She didn’t move.

He looked up at her, to meet her incredulous gaze. He sighed.

“For months now, they’ve been the first to arrive and the last to leave any time we meet up as a group. When we run into them in town, they’re together. When you call Koushiro, they’re together. He goes to all of Tai’s soccer practices and Tai hangs around when Koushiro stays late in the tech lab. It’s not exactly rocket science, Miyako, is it? And that’s not even mentioning what Tai did to his hair a couple months back..."

“I assumed that he’d lost a bet or something… thank goodness he’s dyed it back,” she countered, “But they were like that long before they were a couple. Before we even knew them."

“It’s been much more obvious lately."

“How so?” she raised her eyebrow at him.

“Just little things, nothing very specific, they try to cover it up. But I am surprised you hadn’t picked up on it. Love is supposed to be your speciality, right?"

Miyako glared at him and made her move. Ken laughed and moved his queen.

“Checkmate. Another game?"


	9. Canoodling

Working at a restaurant is hard. Long unsociable hours, irregular meal times, picky ungrateful customers and a million things always happening at once.

Daisuke knew that when he signed up: knew that if he wanted to run a successful ramen cart empire, he had to start with the basics. And so he toiled away his weekends and some of his evenings in a hot kitchen, cutting himself and burning himself and learning to cook like a pro. He refused to fail.

Despite his determination, he still sort of wished his friends would actually come see him. He'd tried begging and offering them free food, but no one had bothered. He put on a happy face but he was honestly quite upset that they hadn't turned up. At least they hadn't, until one cold December evening. He was just serving a bowl of ramen to one particularly drunk looking customer when who should sit down at the other end of the bar than his one and only favourite sempai, Taichi.

"Taichi-sempai? You came?"

"We just thought we'd grab some food, y'know? Needed some... _sustenance,_ " he smirked, making the redheaded boy beside him blush.

"Well that I can do, guys! It's on me today, okay? As a thanks for stopping by."

And he got to work. Heating the broth, cooking the noodles, preparing the toppings. It was a repetitive task that he'd gotten fairly used to, he barely even needed to pay attention to what he was doing anymore. He had to do a good job though because if he did then it would impress Taichi and Koushiro, and maybe they'd come back again or even get some of the others to visit. It'd be nice to have people to talk to at work, even if just for a moment.

Not that they were talking much. Taichi seemed to be whispering something to Koushiro, and Koushiro was getting redder by the minute. Was it too hot in the restaurant? Certainly with the open kitchen that could be a problem, and Koushiro could be quite sensitive to the temperature. But no, he was muttering something at Taichi... Too quiet. Okay, never mind. It was clearly private, no concern of anyone but them.

And then Koushiro squeaked, and got visibly flustered, and pushed Taichi away.

Taichi sighed loudly. He took his hand out from under the bar and rested it on top.

Then he reached it towards Koushiro and gently thumbed the back of his hand.

Oh my god.

He felt his feet get wet, and glanced down to realise he’d just poured a ladle of soup onto his shoes. He could practically hear Koushiro telling him that "That’s what happens when one pays more attention to eavesdropping than to the task at hand”, but then quickly reminded himself that _it was Koushiro’s damned fault anyway._  


His eyes making contact with said redhead, he quickly shifted his gaze - plating up the ramen for the twosome, focusing on the bowls this time to make sure he didn’t make the mess worse. Noodles, broth, toppings. Noodles, broth, toppings. Two servings. Two friends to pass it to. Both caught up in their own little world. Together.

He cleared his throat and placed each dish in front of its respective diner.

"Uh, guys? You, uh, your ramen is ready,” he half-squeaked.

The couple turned to face him.

"Thanks, Daisuke!" Taichi beamed.

"Sorry, Daisuke," continued his shorter companion.

"S'alright, Koushiro-sempai... I just didn't know you two..."

“Didn’t know we…?” Taichi followed Daisuke’s gaze to see his hand sat gently over his boyfriend's, then grinned sheepishly, “oh… for more than a year now, actually..."

“I do find it rather amazing that word hasn't spread faster, don't you agree, Tai?"

"Yeah I totally thought Hikari would've told everyone within days. If not her, Yamato for sure..."

"Personally, my bet would've been Miyako. It appears we really do have some incredibly trustworthy friends,"

“You would’ve bet on Miyako, even though you didn’t even tell her? I still don’t understand how she ended up finding out from _me_ , Kou."

Daisuke just stood there, stunned. Miyako knew? Was he really so blind to have not noticed two of his friends dating for over a year?

“Uh… so… enjoy the ramen… you two…” he interrupted, trying to get his head around the situation. He’d long admired Taichi as his absurdly popular (especially with the ladies) soccer-playing senior. As his mentor. His friend. A revelation like this seemed almost impossible. Taichi liked boys? Taichi liked _Koushiro_?


	10. Slip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follows on from "Keitai"

Takeru and Daisuke were ignoring each other. It wasn’t exactly subtle. It was, however, bringing down everyone’s mood.

“You’re quiet,” Iori said, a little hesitantly. Nobody seemed willing to bring the subject up and it had been going on for several days. But he firmly believed that the group should be united, even if they weren’t currently required as a team.

Takeru said “sorry,” which was appreciated, but not a particularly enlightening response. Daisuke, meanwhile, continued not to really talk. Which was very, very odd. Getting him to shut up was usually the difficult task, not getting him to actually talk. The guy often ended up being both sides of the same conversation!

Iori didn’t understand why people couldn’t just be civil.

“Did something happen?” He asked nobody in particular. This whole situation was weird and the sooner it was resolved the better.

Miyako opened her mouth to respond, but Ken glared at her and she went quiet as well. Now nobody was talking. However, after a moment there was an inaudible muttering from Daisuke.

“Sorry, what?"

Daisuke just stared at the floor. Oddly, Takeru was the one who responded.

“He said I hit on him."

Iori thought that sentence through a moment. Daisuke thought Takeru had hit on him? Maybe he’d misspoken.

“You hit him?"

“No. I hit on him."

Okay, nope, not a mistake. Takeru had hit on Daisuke?

“Oh. I’m sure it was an accident, Daisuke."

“It wasn’t,” they both replied, in unison, before blushing and looking away from each other.

“Oh. I didn’t know you were…"

Daisuke looked angry. Takeru looked upset. This wasn’t going to plan.

“Must be hard not knowing anyone else who is… People can be a bit weird about it…” Iori said, sympathetically.

He could feel all eyes on him. He’d said something wrong. Had he sounded disapproving? Sure it was a weird idea for him that two guys might be like that together but he knew there was no reason it should be a bad thing. He’d just grown up in a very old fashioned household and not been exposed to such things. He’d get used to it. Takeru was his friend. So was Daisuke. It shouldn't change that.

“You… you don’t know any gay guys?” Hikari said, although it sounded a bit like she was laughing at him. Did she think he was one himself? Was that it?

“I don’t.”

They were all definitely staring at him now.

“You know my brother, Iori. You know Koushiro, too.” she said, as if it was no big deal at all.

Iori looked dumbfounded. Daisuke burst into laughter. Iori wasn’t sure whether to be pleased about that or not. It seemed disrespectful for him to laugh when Hikari had revealed such a big secret to them.

“Dude the look on your face! He totally didn’t know yet!” He said, somewhere in amongst his laughter.

Oh. The joke was him. Not a big improvement, but Iori was at least happy that his friend’s mood had changed.

“They both are?” Iori eventually said out loud.

The entire table nodded.

“And I was the only one who hadn’t been told?"

Same response.

“I see. How long?"

As it turns out, only Miyako had been told outright, which made Iori feel a little better. Daisuke had known only a few months, after walking in on their date. Hikari, on the other hand, had known a full year longer than Daisuke.

“Taichi seemed to think everybody knew by now,” Hikari said, “he was surprised enough when Daisuke didn’t know."

“I was really cool about it, acted like I already knew” Daisuke added.

Hikari ignored his comment, but addressed him directly.

“Anyway, can you two just kiss and make up already?"

Takeru glared at Hikari. Daisuke made a growl under his breath: “If it’s what Hikari wants, I guess”

Takeru held out his hand, “friends?"

Daisuke batted his hand out of the way, stood up, leant over the table, grabbed Takeru’s chin, and kissed him.


End file.
